A first-class ticket could soon cost around $1, as the US Postal Service warns it could run out of money by 2027 and is considering raising prices to stay afloat.
Appearing before Congress on Tuesday, March 17, Postmaster General David Steiner said the price of a first-class ticket could rise from 78 cents to 90 to 95 cents.
Steiner said higher prices are one of the few options available as the agency faces growing losses. Raising stamp prices to 95 cents, he told lawmakers, “will largely resolve our controllable losses.”
The warning comes as the USPS says its financial runway is running out.
In interviews with Reuters and The Associated Press, Steiner said that without congressional action to lift the agency’s $15 billion statutory debt limit, the USPS could struggle to pay vendors or employees by February 2027. Borrowing limits were set in 1990.
Trump’s pressure for radical changes in USPS
As financial pressures mount, President Donald Trump has renewed calls to reform the Postal Service.
Last year, Trump said he was considering moving the USPS — currently an independent agency — under the Commerce Department, bringing it under direct executive branch control.
“We want a Post Office that does a good job and doesn’t lose huge amounts of money,” Trump said.
Why is the USPS struggling?
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the USPS has recorded losses nearly every year since 2007, totaling nearly $109 billion by fiscal year 2024.
Mail volume has declined sharply as Americans go online. According to the Postal Regulatory Commission, the USPS will deliver 112 billion pieces of mail in fiscal year 2024, down nearly 50% from the 2006 peak.
Contribution: Reuters; Michelle Del Rey, USA Today.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at (email protected) and follow him at X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: U.S. Postal Service says it may raise first-class stamp prices
Reporting by Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY/USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect